I grimaced but said nothing. Following Magnus to the end of the hall, I waited as he used his key to open the door. Once we stood inside, he silently shut it.
Gazing around the big office, eyeing the vast desk with a lamp, computer, and keyboard file drawers, pens in their stands, I asked, “What’s first?”
Magnus also gazed around. “You start with the desk. I’ll look through the cabinets.”
“What if everything is on that computer?”
“We’re screwed.”
“Oh.” I stepped to the desk. “Good to know.”
Arnaud’s drawers revealed bank statements, contracts, employment records, tax records, old birthday cards, and even a few pictures of a woman and a young boy. “Is this you?”
Magnus gave the photo a quick glance. “Yeah.”
“Got anything?”
“Maybe. Take a look.”
I closed the drawers, making sure to leave everything exactly as I’d found them, I crossed the room to his side. Magnus opened a big manila envelope filled with photos. He dumped them on the cabinet to sort through.
“Uh,” I said, swallowing hard. “These – these are porn.”
“Not porn,” he said, his tone grim, holding a picture up. “Blackmail. Don’t you recognize him?”
I studied the photo, then sucked in my breath. “Oh, shit. Oh my God, that’s –”
“Yeah, spread these out and start taking pictures. Get as close as you can, we want every detail. Work fast. My gut says we don’t have much time.”
I used my new camera to snap shots of all the photos Magnus handed me. My mouth dry, I saw sexual poses and positions I’d never thought were possible much less pleasurable. “What do you have?”
“Ledgers,” he answered, tense, also taking photos. “Dates, amounts, names. We hit the jackpot, babe.”
“Gawd,” I exclaimed, disgusted. “Why would any woman want to be whipped for sex?”
“Who says they want to?”
“Insensitivity alert. These are trafficked women?”
“Most likely. I’m seeing lists of women bought and sold. Christ, my old man is a monster. I don’t even know if I can shoot all these pages, there are so many here.”
“Get as many as you can. I’m almost done with the porn.”
I finished, shoved my camera into my pocket, then placed the photos back into the envelope. “I sure hope he doesn’t check these.”
Magnus took the envelope back, then handed me a large ledger. “Get busy.”
I snapped shot after shot of page after page, making sure every photo was as clear as I could make it. The camera grew warm in my hands, the sweat from my fingers smudged pages as I turned them. Magnus finished one ledger, then started on another.
“He must have backups on the computer,” Magnus muttered. “But we don’t dare grab it. Or try to hack it.”
“We’ve got enough.”
Finishing the ledgers, we put them back exactly how we found them, and eased the cabinet drawers closed. I grinned at the sweat that dripped from Magnus’s cheeks and nose, then used my sleeve to wipe it away.
“Let’s go,” I murmured, tucking my camera in my pocket.
“Just like we did before.”
